​Every year, when summer rolls around, there is always this huge hype about the Fremont Festival of the Arts. But why? Why are people always so excited about it? What makes it so unique in comparison to all the other festivals in the Bay Area? We sat down with Cindy Bonior, Fremont Festival Director, and Dirk Lorenz, the Fremont Festival Committee Chair, to find out.

Question: 35 years is a long time. Can you tell us about how it all began?

DL: Years ago, after the historic Pathfinders Day parade celebrations ended, a few community leaders were looking for a replacement event that could unify the community and provide entertainment to a growing city with a diversifying population. Enter the Fremont Festival of the Arts.

Q: How does it all come together? Who’s in charge of producing the event?

CB: The Fremont Chamber of Commerce produces the entire event. We execute all of it from venues to attractions, but it takes the help of numerous volunteers. We have only five people on staff, so we lean on our volunteers quite a bit.

DL: We sure do. The Festival takes thousands of volunteers to pull off. No joke, thousands.

Q: So much work goes into the Festival. Exactly how much time and planning is required to make it all happen?

CB: From the Chamber’s point of view, we work on the Festival pretty much year-round. There are peak times and quieter times. But generally, we’ll meet right after the Festival and see what could be improved on, what should be abandoned or added, and which vendors we want to reach out to or want to work with. We stay busy but to varying degrees. In the fall to early year, it’s not a huge amount of work. But after New Year’s Day, we start getting applications out and, right around May, we get super busy.

DL: From the volunteer standpoint, most of the time dedicated is in the two weeks prior to and on the actual weekend of the event. It is not unusual for core volunteers to work 48+ hours on Festival weekend.

Q: If you had to pick, what would be your favorite part of the Festival?

CB: Can I pick two? Haha. I’ve got two, but they go hand-in-hand. 9 a.m. Saturday, when the artists are coming in, putting on the finishing touches of their art work and booths, and vendors are setting up. It’s right before the curtain goes up, so to speak, and it’s an exciting time. And my other favorite time is Sunday night, when we close and know we delivered a great event for the community. Knowing it was fun, safe, and we succeeded in accomplishing our job, I always walk away feeling great.

DL: I agree with Cindy, mine is always going home Sunday night. Haha! Actually, it’s looking at the four walking miles of “city” that literally pop up overnight. I will survey the site on Saturday morning before all heck breaks loose and see the fruits of the labor of thousands of people. It’s very rewarding.

Q: On behalf of all the foodies out there, we’ve got to ask about the food. What can we expect to find at the Festival?

CB: This is something I’m really proud of – that we were able to find and cultivate diverse food groups. Yes, we have traditional fair food like kettle corn, sliders, shaved ice, and cheese steaks. But we also have more diverse stuff like linguica, gazpacho, samosas, lumpia, Mexican food, poke bowls, skewers, porchetta, pot stickers, Mediterranean food – just a different array of cultural foods that we haven’t had in a really long time. It’s a taste of stuff you normally wouldn’t get at an outdoor festival. We’ve also got gourmet food trucks added to the mix. We’ve got something for everybody.

Q: How does the Festival of the Arts fit into the city’s art scene? Do you believe it positively impacts local artists?

CB: Absolutely, it gives local artists an opportunity to show off their work to a large number of people. It also gives them an opportunity to show what they can do; an opportunity to get started with their business, at the very least, to test the waters to see if they have marketable art work. I was amazed the first time I saw the Festival. It shows off the diversity of Fremont, it shows off the city’s culture and community, and the community comes together to make it all happen and I think that’s really important. The level of community spirit here in Fremont is exceptional.

DL: Speaking of community, we also have the Community Stage where local theater, dance, and music companies can showcase their talents. We try to celebrate all forms of the arts at the Festival and giving the younger generations a stage to perform on is something we’re proud to offer the community.

Q: Great, let’s talk about music next. What kind of entertainment can we expect to find at the Festival?

CB: We have a little bit of everything; rock-n-roll, country, jazz, zydeco, pop, etc. Since we have two days and two stages, we are able to offer a wide variety of music.

Q: And what about the little ones? Are there kid-friendly attractions at the Festival?

CB: Definitely! We have Kid City and Kid City West, which offer a wide variety of carnival rides geared for small kids age 12 and under. We also have arts and crafts for kids, such as sand art, drawing, and a place for kids to learn bicycle safety.

DL: Our street performers also entertain kids with things like face painting, hair braiding, and balloon animals. Several of our sponsors also offer family-friendly attractions throughout the Festival site.

Q: The Festival is called the Fremont Festival of the Arts, but what about it screams "FREMONT”?

CB: The Festival is not a big commercial endeavor. Actually, the Festival is about raising money for nonprofit groups. We always try to stay really true to those roots. A lot of nonprofits have dropped by the wayside, but we’ve continued the Festival’s tradition of helping them by taking a percentage of vendor payments and redirecting those funds to nonprofits. We didn’t want to stop supporting nonprofits just because they can’t participate in some of the ways they used to. Our belief is that the community is the foundation of Fremont. By empowering the community, we strengthen Fremont. Therefore, we established the Fremont Community Foundation to support nonprofits this way. Being a nonprofit ourselves, we wanted to help other nonprofits by building our Fremont Community Foundation so we can help nonprofits in a different way.

Q: Ok, so the Festival helps local non-profits, but does it also generate revenue for the city of Fremont?

CB: The city does realize tax revenue from sales tax, vendor fees, and business license fees paid by vendors. A large portion of our budget goes to the city, by paying for their services. We’ve been told by some of the hotels that the Festival helps fill hotel rooms on that weekend. A lot of the hotels are full that weekend. And the city is generous to us. They try to be helpful in showing support to all events, not just us.

DL: The city estimates that more than $1 million in tax revenue is generated from sales tax, room occupancy taxes, and local dining by those working and attending the festival.

Q: Fremont has a very diverse community. Does the diversity of the Festival's offerings match the diversity of Fremont residents?

DL: This has been a key strategy of the Festival Committee for years - making the Festival relevant to the area demographics. I believe our menu options throughout the Festival are reflective of our diversity. Also, the art by both the artists selling art and by the street performers reflect the diversity of Fremont, as it has been tailored to those attending.

Q: At the end of the day, why should people come to the Fremont Festival of the Arts?

CB: The festival brings together the community. It’s a place where people in Fremont gather with friends, or meet old friends they haven’t seen in a long time, including young people and students who have a chance to socialize with friends over the summer. There’s also lots of good food, cold beer, and wine. It has all the makings of a nice afternoon.

DL: It’s seriously FUN! It’s a safe, family event that has something for everybody.